Pyrrhochalcia iphis Drury 1773

Pyrrhochalcia iphis (Drury) Papilio iphis Drury, 1773 [1770-1782], 2: 27; pi. 15, figs. 3, 4 (Senegal). =Papilio phidias Cramer, 1779 [1775-1791] 3: 85; pi. 244; figs. A. B. ("China"). = Papilio jupiter Fabricius. 1787: 87 (Sierra Leone). This magnificent skipper, the largest in the African fauna, seems to be restricted to the very wet, coastal rain forest in Liberia. Fox further notes the aberrant flight of iphis, not at all like most hesperiids, a flight more closely resembling that of a saturniid moth. Although it is active during the daylight hours, this species also flies into the evening, Fox collecting one specimen at light in Harbel. P. iphis is recorded from Senegal to Gabon and east into the Congo wherever humid rain forests prevail (Evans. 1937: 15). It is apparently abundant where found.
Liberia: Kaoukeye, 1 2, III (Picard, 1950: 625); Liberia, 1 8, 1 2 ; Cape Palmas, 1 S (Naysmith) ; Harbel, 3 <s , 2 2,1, 7 $ , 1 2, n, 6 3,2 2 , III, 1 3,2 2 , IV, 1 $ , V, 1 8 , VI, 1 2 , VIII, 1 S , 1 2 , X, 1 S , XL 2 $ , XII; Bomi Hills, 4 3,1 2 , IV (Fox).
In addition to the Liberian material Carnegie Museum has specimens from Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon and the Congo.